Category Archives: Hiring Insights

Scenario Planning for Leadership: Hiring Ahead of Growth, Downturn, and Exit

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I have watched this play out across hundreds of executive searches, and the pattern is clear enough to write down. Companies plan their finances and strategy for multiple scenarios but hire leadership for only […]

Board Observer Seats: A Low-Risk Way to Audition Future Directors

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I have watched this play out across hundreds of executive searches, and the pattern is clear enough to write down. Adding someone to your board is a real commitment, and getting it wrong is costly and awkward to […]

Multi-Role Searches: Hiring a CFO and COO Simultaneously Without Chaos

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I have watched this play out across hundreds of executive searches, and the pattern is clear enough to write down. When a company needs to hire two executives at once, a CFO and a COO, say, it usually runs two […]

The GM Track: Why General Management Experience Predicts CEO Success

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I have watched this play out across hundreds of executive searches, and the pattern is clear enough to write down. Companies grooming future CEOs often develop specialists deeply and wonder why so few are ready […]

Silent Signals: What Executive Candidates Judge You On During Interviews

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I have watched this play out across hundreds of executive searches, and the pattern is clear enough to write down. While employers focus on the questions they ask, executive candidates are reading a parallel set […]

LinkedIn Profile Forensics: Vetting Executive Candidates Online

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, this is one of the questions employers bring me most often, and my answer has been sharpened by seeing what separates the searches that succeed from the ones that don’t. A candidate’s LinkedIn profile is a rich, […]

How to Onboard an Executive Into a Skeptical Leadership Team

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, this is one of the questions employers bring me most often, and my answer has been sharpened by seeing what separates the searches that succeed from the ones that don’t. A new executive who joins a leadership team […]

Pre-IPO Leadership Audits: The Roles Public Markets Expect You to Have

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, I have watched this play out across hundreds of executive searches, and the pattern is clear enough to write down. Companies preparing to go public focus intensely on financials and governance and often discover […]

Compensating Advisory Boards: Market Norms for Private Companies

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, this is one of the questions employers bring me most often, and my answer has been sharpened by seeing what separates the searches that succeed from the ones that don’t. Private companies assemble advisory boards […]

The Cluster Hire: Building an Entire Leadership Team in One Coordinated Search

As Global Head of Research & Leadership Advisory at JRG Partners, this is one of the questions employers bring me most often, and my answer has been sharpened by seeing what separates the searches that succeed from the ones that don’t. Sometimes a company needs not one executive […]